HAS TOUGH APPROACH DETERRED DRUG USE?

AUBURN, N.Y. -- About 10 years ago, Albert Brunner was convicted under the
old Rockefeller drug laws for selling nearly 2 pounds of cocaine.

It was his first conviction for a non-violent drug crime, yet Brunner was
sentenced to 25 years to life in prison -- the same punishment that can be
meted out for murder.

"Ten years ago, people thought go ahead, lock them up and throw away the
key," said Brunner's younger sister, Margaret Liberatore. "But it hasn't
changed the availability of drugs out there. . . . There's more drugs out
there than ever."

The sentence doesn't make sense to Liberatore, a schoolteacher on maternity
leave who lives in Auburn. She's circulating petitions calling for reform
of the state's drug sentencing laws.

She's hoping to gather 3,000 signatures by mid-January to send to Gov.
George Pataki.

Twenty-five years ago, the Rockefeller drug laws established mandatory
sentences for the sale and possession of narcotics that are among the
harshest in the nation. A conviction for the sale of 2 ounces of cocaine or
heroin, an A-1 felony, carries a minimum sentence of 15 years to life.
First-degree murder, also an A-1 felony, has a minimum sentence of 20
years; first-degree rape, a B-felony, requires a minimum of six years
behind bars.

In 1974, the year after the laws were enacted, 713 inmates were sent to
prison on drug felonies. As of December 1997, there were 8,800 drug
offenders locked up in state prisons under the Rockefeller drug laws,
according to the state Department of Correctional Services.

Cayuga County Court Judge Peter E. Corning, who sentenced Brunner, said he
now opposes such mandatory sentences.

"I was district attorney when Rockefeller put those laws in place," said
Corning. "He believed they would be a deterrent. It has not worked out."

James Flateau, speaking for the state Department of Correctional Services,
said that some inmates sentenced under Rockefeller laws who don't have a
violent past have been released under work release and good behavior programs.

But not every one qualifies for those programs. Because he was convicted of
an A-1 felony, Brunner is not eligible for the new work release or merit
programs.

By the time Brunner is eligible for release -- Oct. 22, 2014 -- taxpayers
will have spent roughly $750,000 to keep him locked up, his sister
estimates.

Checked-by: Richard Lake